The present invention relates to a serial access memory and, more particularly, a serial access memory (SAM) to be employed in a FIFO (First-In First-Out) memory and a multiport RAM which has DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) cells.
A conventional serial access memory is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 25791-1991. The disclosed serial access memory includes a drive MOS transistor which has a large gate width. The drive MOS transistor supplies a ground potential (GND) or a power supply potential (VCC) to a sense amplifier. The drive capability of the sense amplifier depends on the gate width of the drive MOS transistor.
In case of the conventional serial access memory, however, noises of a power supply potential and a ground potential during operation of the sense amplifier are large and may cause the circuits other than the sense amplifier to malfunction.